BIG Governance Principles – What Actually Matters

From 80 Principles to the Few That Matter: Why BIG Governance Starts Here

Three pages – outline here

That is all the Principles chapter of the Business Integrated Governance (BIG) Body of Knowledge takes. And yet it may be the most important chapter in the whole work.

In January, our BIG Book Group is spending an evening on those three pages – not because they are short, but because they explain, with unusual clarity, why governance succeeds or quietly breaks down.

The story behind the principles

The principles did not begin as a neat list.

They started life as more than 80 statements drawn from real organisations, real delivery challenges, and real governance failures. Ideas about control, assurance, decision-making, accountability, behaviour, and value.

Those ideas were challenged, tested, argued over, combined, and stripped back. Not to make them elegant, but to make them true.

• What survived was not what sounded impressive.
• What survived was what held up under complexity, pressure, and change.

These principles are not commentary. They are the load-bearing structure of BIG.

Why spend an evening on just three pages

Because principles do the work that frameworks cannot.

• They shape decisions when the playbook runs out.
• They explain why governance fails even when all the processes are in place.
• They expose the difference between compliance theatre and real control.
• They act as a compass when transformation gets messy – which it always does.

If you work in change, transformation, PMO, risk, assurance, audit, strategy, or leadership, these ideas will feel uncomfortably familiar in the best possible way.

What the session will be like

This is not a lecture and it is not homework-heavy.

We will explore the principles together, talk openly about why many of the original 80 did not survive, share examples of where principles were followed or ignored, and connect BIG thinking to the realities people are dealing with right now.

You do not need to be a governance expert. Curiosity is enough.

Event details

If you are new to BIG, this is the best place to start.
If you already know the Body of Knowledge, this is where its foundations come into sharp focus.

Monday 12 January 2026
7:30–9:00pm (UK time)
Online – book via Eventbrite

You will be asked to make a token donation to support our cause

Please either:

• Become a Member to access BOK details
• Become a FULL Member to access all the BIG Collateral and events / recordings (and an invite to these session automatically)

Three pages. Big thinking. Proper conversation.

If you have ever felt that governance should be simpler, smarter, and more human, you will be very welcome.